Trine's from-the-ground-up strategy pays off

Quarterback Eric Watt is also Trine's leading
rusher, with 54.7 yards per game.Trine athletics
photo

The foundation for Trine's attention-grabbing upset of then-No.
14 Franklin had been laid long before Saturday's kickoff.

Before the week of practice leading up to the clash with the
Grizzlies. Before preseason camp. Even before coach Matt Land's
team went 5-1 in games decided by a touchdown or less to finish 6-4
last season.

It was laid at every restaurant and Rotary club near Angola, Ind.,
and in every high school within a 2½-hour radius.

Land and his staff were hired before the 2006 season, after the
program had two wins in its first two seasons following a move to
Division III from the NAIA.

"I can remember back in my first practice in the spring when we
had 29 kids," Land said as his team prepared for its MIAA opener
against Hope this weekend. "We've done it the right way. There's an
easy way to do things, and there's a right way. We have a plan and
we stuck to it."

The plan didn't include any quick fixes after an 0-10 season in
2005. At a university then known as Tri-State, the program had hit
rock bottom after its revival in 1995. Playing for the first time
since the early 1900s, the Thunder were the NAIA's third-ranked
team in 1998 and appeared in four playoff games through 2003.

With hardly enough players to field a team and with crowds of
about 700-800, Land and staff dug in with a motto and a
program-building philosophy.

Players, Land said, should live by one rule, whether on the field,
in the classroom or in the community: "Do everything right all the
time."

Growing the program, he figured, would take more than a few
coaches and a handful of dedicated kids.

"Basically my philosophy is 'it takes a village to build a
football program,' " Land said.

That meant everyone from administration to alumni to those beyond
campus limits had to be involved, and it was on the coaching staff
to create that interest."It was on [us] to go out and make it
happen," Land said. "We ate lunch at a different restaurant every
day for a year and a half, with our team gear on. We weren't just
there eating, we were talking to people. We went into classes, we
went to the local Rotary club."

With each person they talked to about Thunder football, they
figured the message would be passed on to others.
"It's an Amway effect," Land said. "Like a pyramid scheme."

If anyone with a blue-and-white shirt was to extol the virtues of
the program, there had to be a virtuous bunch worth talking about
to back that up. So Land's staff set out to recruit "the right
type" of student-athlete, and instilled his basic philosophy.

"It's pretty simple," he said. "We're going to try to work harder
than everybody in the nation, period."

A believer that there's "no magic potion" for fixing a program and
that lucky breaks are made, Land had an on-field theory too.

"My philosophy has been take care of the defense first," he said,
"so you're not getting your [butts] blown out by 40."

In the transition year, Land said, the idea is to keep the games
interesting, so fans aren't leaving at halftime. And the best way
to do that was by putting his most talented players on the
defensive side of the ball.

This season, Land says the biggest change, now that 172 players
started camp, including 20 returning starters and 13 seniors, is
that the offense has finally caught up.

"We've got more athletes on offense," Land said. "We're scoring 37
points a game and giving up 18. When I got here, they gave up 48
and scored 10."

Some teams have found out about Trine's improved offense the hard
way, but against Franklin, the Thunder scored off of four
turnovers, never having to drive more than 39 yards for a score.
Freshman Aaron Shoemaker set up the winning score with an
interception with 8:40 to go in the fourth quarter, and Mario Brown
scored on a 4-yard run with 7:27 left.

Now 3-0 with wins in its past five games dating from last season,
the players are starting to see the results of the plan they bought
into.

"You can talk and talk and talk and say all the right things, and
the kids can say it back," Land said, "but you know as well as I do
that winning [validates] everything."

Saturday's opponent is Hope, 0-4 but also the last team to beat
Trine, 45-35 on Oct. 27. Like all of Trine's losses last season, it
came on the road. Hope is also the last Thunder opponent to win at
Shive Field, 21-7 on Oct. 28, 2006.

"It's kind of a trap game," Land said, acknowledging that Hope's
losses have come against three CCIW teams and another from the WIAC
who are a combined 11-1, including No. 6 Wheaton and No. 9 UW-Eau
Claire.

Plus, Land notes, whether Tri-State or Trine, he's never beaten
Hope.

After spending time canvassing high schools in Indiana, Michigan
and Ohio spreading the Tri-State name, the switch to Trine was a
welcome one, Land said. Beyond a 50-mile radius, very few people
were familiar with the college, which could easily be confused with
one of the 17 TSUs in the country or the 36 places known as
tri-state areas. Having ‘state' in the name was also
misleading for a small, private school.

"It was a marketing problem, a branding problem," Land said.

The new brand of football his Thunder play has caught on. Those
crowds of 800? Trine drew 3,468 for its opener against Manchester
and 4,379 on homecoming day against Franklin.

Land isn't sure his team is there yet – he says the six MIAA
games will determine that, and reminds his team that football has a
way of humbling you as soon as you start feeling good.

Maybe it's not in a coach's nature to stop and appreciate anything
midseason, not even a "do it the right way" plan in full swing.

"Everything we did there was a reason behind it," Land said. "We
stuck to it."

Re-ranking the
conferences

It's Kickoff tradition for editor Pat Coleman and I to take last
season's non-conference and playoff performances, mix them with a
dash of ‘quality of play,' and ‘historical performance'
and come out with a fresh set of conference rankings.

Four weeks into this season, with non-conference games mostly
given way to league play, Around the Nation takes the update one
step further, with a look at the spots where teams have improved
… or just moved.

1. WISCONSIN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
(WIAC)Kickoff '08 ranking: 1st of 27Non-conference record so far: 14-7Verdict: Still at the top of the heap, given the
depth (La Crosse and River Falls have accounted for five of the
seven non-conference losses) and caliber of play and players.
Whatever Northwestern (Minn.)'s win over River Falls took away in
respect, UW-Whitewater and UW-Oshkosh's wins over top 10 NAIA
programs St. Xavier and Ohio Dominican restored.

2. OHIO ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (OAC)Kickoff '08 ranking: 2ndNon-conference record so far: 7-3Verdict: Heidelberg, Otterbein adding weight to
OAC's usually tough top half, but conference still can't match the
WIAC's strength from top to bottom.

3. AMERICAN SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE (ASC)Kickoff '08 ranking: 3rdNon-conference record so far: 8-8Verdict: Hardin-Simmons' early resurgence keeps
ASC up high, though Mississippi College's loss to Millsaps was a
bad one.

4. COLLEGE CONFERENCE OF ILLINOIS AND WISCONSIN
(CCIW)Kickoff '08 ranking: 5thNon-conference record so far: 19-5Verdict: Wheaton, North Central, Elmhurst and
Illinois Wesleyan are a combined 12-0 and only 1-2 North Park has a
losing record. The Thunder beat Bethel and the Cardinals beat Ohio
Northern in the most significant non-conference games.

5. EMPIRE 8 (E8)Kickoff '08 ranking: 4thNon-conference record so far: 10-8Verdict: St. John Fisher's 33-3 loss to Mount
Union of the OAC is the only significant non-conference result, but
this is the same conference that sent three teams to the playoffs
last season, so it holds its ground for the most part.

6. MINNESOTA INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
(MIAC)Kickoff '08 ranking: 7thNon-conference record so far: 13-2Verdict: Only non-conference losses have been to
now-ranked teams (Concordia-Moorhead to Willamette, Bethel to
Wheaton). Depth, as seven of nine teams are off to winning
starts.

7. NORTHWEST CONFERENCE (NWC)Kickoff '08 ranking: 6thNon-conference record so far: 11-10Verdict: Championship days of 2004 and 1999
looking more distant, but first automatic playoff bid should keep
conference play spirited. In key non-conference matchups, NWC went
1-1 vs. MIAC, 0-2 vs. WIAC and 0-1 vs. ASC. Redlands of the SCIAC
also dealt Whitworth a convincing defeat.

8. NEW JERSEY ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (NJAC)Kickoff '08 ranking: 8thNon-conference record so far: 3-4Verdict: Top team no longer an automatic Stagg
Bowl contender, but conference is stronger top to bottom, even with
new additions.

9. MIDDLE ATLANTIC CONFERENCE (MAC)Kickoff '08 ranking: 15thNon-conference record so far: 13-11Verdict: Big move up the rankings is a bit
deceiving, since middle group of conferences are very evenly
matched. MAC gets the edge by virtue of its record so far,
including a 4-2 record vs. the ACFC, including Delaware Valley's
two big wins over then-top-10 Wesley and Salisbury. Six 2-1 teams
have helped MAC go 2-2 vs. Centennial. Against the ODAC, USAC and
NJAC, the MAC is 2-1 vs. each, plus 1-0 vs. the Liberty League but
0-3 vs. the Empire 8.

10. ATLANTIC CENTRAL FOOTBALL CONFERENCE
(ACFC)Kickoff '08 ranking: 9thNon-conference record so far: 6-6Verdict: ACFC goes as Wesley and Salisbury go,
and each has a key MAC win (Widener, Albright) and loss (Del
Val).

11. CENTENNIAL CONFERENCE (CC)Kickoff '08 ranking: 11thNon-conference record so far: 10-8Verdict: Four of the eight losses are by the
bottom two teams, Gettysburg and Juniata. Illustrating the parity
among middle conferences, CC is 8-8 combined against the MAC, ODAC
and Liberty League.

12. OLD DOMINION ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (ODAC)Kickoff '08 ranking: 12thNon-conference record so far: 14-9Verdict: Success came early in non-conference
schedule, with five wins against the USAC in Week 1. ODAC is 3-2
vs. Centennial, but the CC took the even matchups (Franklin &
Marshall 24, Washington & Lee 0; Johns Hopkins 39,
Randolph-Macon 31, 3OT).

13. LIBERTY LEAGUE (LL)Kickoff '08 ranking: 13thNon-conference record so far: 10-10Verdict: In the middle of the 27 ranked
conferences, LL is .500 against modest competition so far. Hobart's
win over Carnegie Mellon kept the LL in front of the UAA.

14. UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION (UAA)Kickoff '08 ranking: 14thNon-conference record so far: 8-5Verdict: Four-team UAA is 5-2 in the first season
of its scheduling agreement with the NCAC, with Chicago accounting
for both defeats. Washington U.'s 30-27 win against Wittenberg of
the NCAC is a significant non-conference win.

15. SOUTHERN COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
(SCAC)Kickoff '08 ranking: 18thNon-conference record so far: 9-6Verdict: Trinity and Millsaps account for three
of the wins in a 4-1 mark vs. the ASC, and the ASC teams beaten
have a combined 2-10 record. The rest of the SCAC's non-conference
wins have come against teams from the HCAC, SLIAC and outside
Division III.

16. IOWA INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
(IIAC)Kickoff '08 ranking: 10thNon-conference record so far: 6-8Verdict: Slow start and lack of a dominant top 25
team hurt the IIAC more than any other conference in our
re-ranking, but there's still not much difference in strength among
the middle third of Division III conferences. The IIAC could get
credit for much of its damage coming against the MIAC (0-4) and
CCIW (1-1), but it was only 1-2 against the MWC. The other four
wins were against the Northern Athletics Conference, the UMAC and a
non-division team.

17. PRESIDENTS' ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (PAC)Kickoff '08 ranking: 17thNon-conference record so far: 8-10Verdict: For a nine-team conference, the depth
isn't there in terms of power teams. It's Washington &
Jefferson and the occasional challenge. PAC teams are 0-4 vs. the
OAC, 0-2 vs. the CC and 1-1 vs. the ACFC. The wins are against
teams from the NCAC, HCAC, UAA plus an independent and a
non-Division III.

18. USA SOUTH ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (USAC)Kickoff '08 ranking: 16thNon-conference record so far: 10-12Verdict: Bulk of where they're placed is the
result of a 5-7 record against ODAC teams. Three wins came against
independents or non-Division III teams, while the USAC is 1-2 vs.
the MAC and 0-2 vs. the SLIAC.

19. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC
CONFERENCE (SCIAC)Kickoff '08 ranking: 21stNon-conference record so far: 8-6Verdict: A 5-6 mark vs. the NWC is decent, and
Redlands has bowled a couple non-conference strikes, against
Dubuque of the IIAC (46-9) and Whitworth of the NWC (38-7). But
three of the SCIAC's non-conference wins have come against Lewis
& Clark and Principia, who haven't beaten a Division III team
other than each other since 2004.

20. NORTH COAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (NCAC)Kickoff '08 ranking: 19thNon-conference record so far: 7-11Verdict: Beyond the top teams, the strength is
questionable, and even the numbers back it up: 2-5 vs. the UAA, 1-3
vs. the PAC. The two wins against the MIAA were Wittenberg beating
defending champ Olivet and Denison beating Kalamazoo.

21. MICHIGAN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
(MIAA)Kickoff '08 ranking: 22ndNon-conference record so far: 11-16Verdict: It wasn't just Trine's win against HCAC
champ Franklin that moved the conference up a spot. MIAA teams are
6-2 against the HCAC this season. They are also 0-7 against the
CCIW and winless against the PAC, IIAC, OAC and WIAC.

22. HEARTLAND COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
(HCAC)Kickoff '08 ranking: 20thNon-conference record so far: 10-12Verdict: The rise of Franklin to give Mount St.
Joseph a consistent challenger and top 25 threat helped last
season, but re-ranking was not as kind. The 2-6 MIAA mark was
offset by a 2-1 mark against the OAC, but the overall win total is
less impressive than it looks. Its three wins against the NCAC were
all against struggling Earlham.

23. MIDWEST CONFERENCE (MWC)Kickoff '08 ranking: 23rdNon-conference record so far: 5-4Verdict: Monmouth's win against Loras of the IIAC
was intriguing, but the MWC is judged by its most successful team,
St. Norbert. Wartburg defeated the Green Knights 44-20 in the MWC's
most significant chance to make a move upward.

24. NEW ENGLAND FOOTBALL CONFERENCE (NEFC)Kickoff '08 ranking: 24thNon-conference record so far: 0-6Verdict: The good vibes from Curry's playoff win
against the Empire 8 champion last season can only go so far; One
of the other 15 teams must win a non-conference game at some point,
although chances are few.

25. UPPER MIDWEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (UMAC)Kickoff '08 ranking: 27thNon-conference record so far: 7-6Verdict: Down to five teams, including brand new
St. Scholastica, Northwestern (Minn.)'s defeat of UW-River Falls of
the WIAC is alone enough for a bump up a couple notches.

26. ST. LOUIS INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
(SLIAC)Kickoff '08 ranking: 26thNon-conference record so far: 8-13Verdict: The addition of former independents
LaGrange and Huntingdon give conference travel budgets a boost, but
it's done the same for the SLIAC's profile in its first season back
on the football field since 1999. The other six teams, however, are
just 4-12 in non-conference action.

27. NORTHERN ATHLETICS CONFERENCE (NATHC)Kickoff '08 ranking: 25thNon-conference record so far: 4-20Verdict: With five teams at 0-3 and only 2-1
Aurora with a winning record, this new mix of former Illini-Badger
Football Conference, UMAC and MIAA teams has a long way to
climb.

The NESCAC, which does not participate in non-conference games, is
not ranked, nor are independents. The North Atlantic Conference
(NAC) begins play in 2009.

Poll positions

Insight on the ballot of a D3football.com top 25 voter, and the
teams who are on the fringe:

As discussed in this week's podcast, with about a month of
results in the bag now is a good time for a voter to tear down and
rebuild the entire top 25, rather than just move teams up and down
a couple spots based on who lost. Everyone has their own system and
beliefs about polling, but on my ballot, I find it hard to stick to
a hierarchy I set up in the preseason, which much has since been
proven and disproven now that games have been played.

For instance, I have no problem ranking St. John Fisher in the top
10 after dismantling Ithaca 37-6, or putting Delaware Valley nearly
as high after wins against Wesley and Salisbury, despite not having
either team ranked at all a few weeks ago. It's early enough for
one win to have that dramatic an effect on the perception of a
team's strength.

Personally, I can't get down with ranking Wesley or Salisbury
ahead of Delaware Valley because I had the Aggies starting out so
low. Wins on the field have to count for more than preseason
positioning. So I can't very well keep St. John's my top 25 unless
I do the same for Concordia-Moorhead, and also Willamette, who beat
the Cobbers. I don't think the two ACFC teams are suddenly no
longer top 25 material either. So Del Val surges from No. 22 to 10
on my ballot this week, while Concordia-Moorhead and Augsburg are
the current MIAC representatives in my top 25. Absurd as it is to
not consider St. John's one of the nation's top 25 teams, it's what
I have to go with based on what I know so far. It of course, is
subject to change and likely will. I'm wrong a lot, as I wrote on
Post Patterns this week, and if I can't handle being wrong
sometimes, this probably isn't the role for me.

So while at some point down the road results will overlap and be
confusing enough that you might have to rank a team ahead of one it
lost to, at this point, what's making us put Wartburg ahead of
Augsburg except preseason expectations? Now that we have in-season
results, shouldn't we trust those rather than be married to what we
thought in August?

The flipside of the argument might be that if a really good team
loses to a pretty good team, is the really good team no longer what
we thought they were, or did the just play a forgivable stinker
against a decent challenger?

No. 21 Hardin-Simmons (4-0, 0-0 ASC) at No. 3 Mary
Hardin-Baylor (3-0, 0-0): This rivalry is back as a
nationally significant game since the Cowboys are playing defense
again and are off to an unbeaten start. But they'll be lining up
against the nation's No. 1 scoring defense (14 points in three
games) and a typically powerful rushing offense.

Hartwick (1-1, 0-1 E8) at No. 10 St. John Fisher (3-1,
1-0): This clash looked a lot better before the Cardinals'
convincing win last weekend against Ithaca, which beat Hartwick
69-42. There is hope for a good game, as the Hawks are the national
leaders in scoring offense at 52.5 points per, and might be able to
hang with St. John Fisher on that alone.

DePauw (2-0, 3-0 SCAC) at No. 13 Millsaps (4-0, 2-0
SCAC): The Majors host the Tigers as the No. 7 scoring
defense and No. 11 offense in the nation. DePauw will make or break
its season on the road; they travel to Trinity in two weeks and are
at Wabash for the season-ending Monon Bell game.

No. 23 Willamette (4-0, 0-0 NWC) at Whitworth (2-1,
0-0): The Bearcats fly back into action against the team
that won the conference title last year and just happens to be
celebrating homecoming. It's also Willamette's third road game in
four weeks. We'll find out of if the Bearcats are really back among
the elite or if the Pirates plan to keep their 13-game conference
run going.

UW-Oshkosh (2-0, 0-0 WIAC) at No. 9 UW-Eau Claire (2-1,
0-1): We know that UW-La Crosse plays at UW-Whitewater
this week, but given the Eagles' start, the more significant WIAC
game might be a couple hours to the north.

Tracking Division III's performance against teams from other
classifications:

We've come quite a way, from 19 non-Division III opponents a
couple weeks ago to just one this week. Guilford hosts NAIA
independent Southern Virginia, a team it beat 70-26 in its opener
last year when Josh Vogelbach threw eight TD passes.

vs. Division I, FCS (0-1 in Week 4, 3-5 in 2008)
None

vs. Division II (1-1 in Week 4, 2-4 in 2008)
None

vs. NAIA (2-0 in Week 4, 21-10 in 2008)
Southern Virginia at Guilford

The Press Box

Around the Nation thrives on reader feedback, and keeps a running
board on Post Patterns (under general football) to discuss issues
raised in the column, and we'll share feedback and answer questions
there. E-mail correspondence can be directed to
Keith@D3football.com or submitted with our feedback form.

Keith McMillan is available to discuss Division III football with
print, radio and Internet journalists. To set up an appointment,
e-mail Keith.

Sports Information Directors: As always, Around the Nation
appreciates help in covering your school or conference this season.
For more information, contact Keith McMillan at
Keith@D3football.com, or snail mail to D3football.com, 13055
Carolyn Forest Dr., Woodbridge, Va., 22192.

Links to online media guides are preferred over mail. In addition,
please do not add my e-mail address to your regular release lists,
but instead use our news release capabilities to have your
information posted on D3football.com's front page and your team's
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Thank you.